In conventional processes for manufacturing a tire, for example, after an unvulcanized rubber material W such as a tread rubber or a side rubber extruded in a given shape from an extruder 1 is cut at fixed intervals with a cutting machine 2, as shown in FIG. 10, there is a storing process of the cut unvulcanized rubber materials until they are used. In this storing process, the cut unvulcanized rubber materials Wa are loaded on a bogie 3 in multiple-stage with partition plates 4 and spacers 5 for storing them with the shapes thereof kept unchanged.
However, the unvulcanized rubber materials Wa which have been cut at fixed intervals will shrink down before they are used for the formation of an unvulcanized tire. Therefore, the accuracy of dimension is lowered at the time of forming unvulcanized tires, and deterioration occurs in uniformity of vulcanized tires.
Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 11, there is known a method for winding and storing an unvulcanized rubber material Wa extruded in a given shape from a extruder 1 around a winding liner R in roll form without cutting it at fixed intervals (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-301300, for example). The unvulcanized rubber material Wa which has been winded in roll form is unwinded to cut at fixed intervals immediately before use, thereby ensuring a good accuracy of dimension.
However, because of winding and storing the unvulcanized rubber material in roll form, sagging occurs due to the self-weight of the winding liner and the self-weight of the unvulcanized rubber material. For this reason, there is a problem where the shape of an unvulcanized rubber material W which has been formed in a given shape is deformed.
Therefore, as a measure to this problem, there has been proposed a winding liner for an unvulcanized rubber material including a belt-shaped inextensible loading member for loading an unvulcanized rubber material, and spacers which are respectively provided at both widthwise direction sides of one surface of the loading member along the lengthwise direction of the loading member (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 05-301300, for example). The loading member is made of an inextensible material such as acetal homopolymer, and the spacers are formed from a rubber material with a square cross-section, hence enabling to store an unvulcanized rubber material which has been winded without causing deformation in shape thereof.
However, since spacers, which are solid and made from rubber members, extend along the loading member at both widthwise direction sides of the surface of the loading member, when the winding liner is bent in roll form, a bending resistance becomes large. For this reason, there are problems in which spacer deformation in shape, spacer damage, or the like may occur when the winding liner is repeatedly used, having trouble with durability.
Furthermore, the winding liner increases in weight, and air in the space which is defined by the spacers and where the unvulcanized rubber material is stored, is not in good circulation, hence causing a problem where cooling efficiency is quite low when the unvulcanized rubber material is stored.